growing up in a world of girls, i just realised how fortunate i am to be surrounded by wonderful men in the family... one of them is Pa' Su, who inspired me through my younger years.
this entry should be written on Jan 5th, as it was the day Pa' Su, my youngest uncle was born. Pa' Su.. that's how he always wrote it, though we always spelled it as Pak Su. Born as Abdullah Zawawi, but more popular as Shukri among family members.
- Pa'Su and Che
Pa' Su is my mom's youngest brother. he was born premature and was always described as very small during his infancy. being the youngest in the family, semua orang sayang Pa' Su..
the age gap between pa' su and my mom agak jauh. and pa' su pernah cakap that my parents are more like parents than sister/bro-in-law to him. he was only 7 when my parents got married.
pa' su has always been a bright student at school. according to him, zaman dia belajar, tak pakai buku but they carried a board yang mereka boleh tulis and padam and tulis semula. being a bright student, he was enrolled into the Special Malay class in an english based school in KB, which was sultan ismail college (SIC).
pa' su went to ITM, and later received a scholarship to further studies in UK. in fact pa' su was the first lad from our kampung who ever got such scholarship to go overseas. before him, his uncles also went overseas, but they were sent to al azhar univ in egypt. in fact, his father (my tok ayah) also spent about three years in Makkah during his teenage years, walaupun tak masuk universiti.
my first encounter with pa' su was in 1977, when he returned from UK for good. i was 6 y.o at that time, and can still remember how everyone was so excited to see him. so we went to the airport ramai2 utk sambut pa' su, and later makan ramai2 kat rumah tok ayah.
that was the first time i received gifts from UK.. i can still remember, pa' su bought something for everyone. and i got at least 2 dresses which i can still remember till now. my older sisters got handbags, purses and watches. and he brought home wonderfully tasted chocolates that we had never seen in the land of KB before.
shortly after his return, pa' su dapat kerja in KL. during that time, his mother (Mak) got sick and finally died in 1978 at our home in taman guru. pa' su was in KL at that time, and took the earliest flight home with kak ya (my eldest sister). by the time mereka sampai, jenazah sudah dimandikan. i can still remember how everybody waited for pa'su utk tatap wajap ibunya buat kali terakhir. it was a very sad moment.
pa' su is always quite emotional whenever 'Mak' is brought into conversation. dan dia tak banyak bercerita pasal Mak to his wife. kenapa... kami pun tak tahu, tapi pa' su memang tak sempat berbakti lama utk ibunya. tok ayah dan mak bukan orang senang, dan pa' su tak sempat memberikan kesenangan itu pada Mak. mungkin dia cukup terkilan..
later, pa' su was transferred to singapore, as an accountant with exon-mobil. lama jugak in singapore. sempat la kami ber'holiday' di singapore masa pa' su kerja kat sana. we went there in 1979, and the house where he lived was the most modern house i ever seen at that time. rumah 3 level, with entrance from the kitchen on the ground floor. main entrance on the second floor thru the living room, and the third floor was where most of the rooms are. all rooms were air-conditioned. masa tu jakun la, mana pernah tidur dalam air-con. we went there in december, and kat sana lah kita jumpa santa claus and a fire-engine truck for the first time. and had a ride on a cable car for the first time too when we visit sentosa island.
everytime pa' su balik cuti, dia akan bw pulang chocolate banyak2, and kalau musim raya, he was the one tukang supply mercun dan bunga api. dan bila pa' su balik cuti, kami akan selalu borak2 kat balcony rumah ayah while waiting for Isya' prayers. dan kita masih ingat kata2 keramat pa' su... 'kalau pandai tetapi tak sembahyang, tak ade makna. tak bagus.'
pa' su got married in 1981. it was an arranged marriage since pa' su susah nak jumpa the right person. he was already 30 at that time. masa pa' su mula kawin memang gembira, but later kami (kak ei and me) rasa kehilangan. everytime balik kb, pa' su banyak spent time rumah in-laws nya as compared to our house. (actually rumah kami tak cukup bilik.. masa tu blm pandai fikir! budak-budak lagi..)
somewhere in 1982/83, pa' su pindah to kemaman bila exon-mobil mula beroperasi di kemaman. they stayed in rantau petronas agak lama. only few years back, mereka pindah to their old house in subang jaya bila exon-mobil decide to bring most of their people to work in KL at KLCC. at 60, pa' su still continue working as senior accountant with exon-mobil on contract-basis.
one thing very peculiar about pa' su... kita tak pernah dengar dia panggil his father 'ayah'. whenever he talked to his father, he always used gantinama 'saya' dan 'awak'. kami pernah tegur pa' su, minta dia panggil 'ayah', tapi mungkin dah terbiasa dan dah tua, he never changed the way he talked to his father, until tok ayah passed away in 1990.
tok ayah's passing was a turning point for him. bila diberitahu tok ayah sakit, pa' su tak keruan dan tak boleh fikir perkara lain. he decided utk balik kb on the spot and his wife had to pack everything up urgently. even the dishes were left unwashed. he was always by his side, till the last breath. pa' su changed into a better person after that. lebih rajin beribadah dan ke surau.
walau pa' su tergolong orang berada, he is always a humble person. and he brought-up all his children humbly. walau mampu, pa' su hidup sederhana dan sangat dihormati bila balik kampung. pa' su tak pernah bawak anak2 pergi holiday kat overseas. cuma lately, bila anak2 dah besar, barulah pa' su banyak travel, itu pun selalunya berdua aje ngan mak su.
last year was a challenging year for pa' su and family when his eldest son was diagnosed to have leukaemia (AML). pa' su sangat sedih, and cannot talk about it. bila dia telefon to inform che pun dia cannot cakap banyak, sebak dan menangis. alhamdulillah, after chemo, khalis got better and had his auto-bone marrow transplant recently.
pa' su sangat menghormati orang tua2, dan tak pernah lupakan his living aunties. banyak bersedekah and among the consistent contributors to the sekolah tahfiz yang ayah jaga.
pa' su sama macam ayah, health conscious. sangat menjaga kesihatan. at 60, he is still handsome and fit. sentiasa senyum dan ceria.
happy 60th birthday, pa' su. moga hidup sentiasa di bawah rahmatNya..
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